Thursday night’s College Football Playoff semifinal matchup featured the Notre Dame Fighting Irish who eliminated Indiana 27-17 and upset Georgia 23-10 inside the Caesars Superdome. Penn State on the other hand crushed SMU 38-10 and shut down Boise State 31-14. In the Capital One Orange Bowl, Notre Dame was down by 10 in the second quarter but made a second-half comeback to defeat Penn State 27-24 to move on to the National Championship game.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
It was a tightly contested game early on with neither offense producing through the first four drives.
Penn State began with the ball and punted twice, recording just 49 yards in five minutes of time of possession. Notre Dame on the other hand got to the Nittany Lion’s 41-yard line before having to punt on their first possession, then turned the ball over late in the first quarter. On 3rd & 12, Fighting Irish quarterback Riley Leonard’s pass was overthrown and intercepted by Zakee Wheatley at the Penn State 42-yard line.
The Nittany Lions picked up the momentum following the takeaway, going 55 yards in 14 plays. An interception by Christian Gray on quarterback Drew Allar inside the 10-yard line was negated by a defensive holding penalty on himself and set up 1st & GOAL from the four. On third down, running back Nicholas Singleton dropped Allar’s pass and Penn State took the three-point lead with the 20-yard Ryan Barker field goal eight seconds into the second quarter.
The Fighting Irish barely crossed midfield before punting back to the Nittany Lions, who extended their lead on their next drive. Kaytron Allen took the carry 20 yards to their 30-yard line, and then Mackey Award winner Tyler Warren avoided a big loss on a handoff by reversing to the opposite side of the field and going out of bounds after picking up 12 yards on the play. Warren also helped lengthen the drive with a four-yard catch on 4th & 2, then three plays later, Singleton punched the ball into the endzone for the five-yard touchdown to put Penn State up 10-0 with 2:18 remaining in the first half.
On the final drive of the second quarter, Leonard was injured in the middle of a play, and Steve Angeli filled in under center. Angeli executed the two-minute drill well and on three separate occasions, the junior moved the chains with his arm. Edge rusher Abdul Carter got into the backfield and sacked Angeli for an eight-yard loss and Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman called his final timeout with two seconds left. Kicker Mitch Jeter knocked through the 41-yard field goal to cut it to a one-score game as the quarter expired.
Penn State went into the half with a 10-3 advantage.
Notre Dame received the ball and had some good news coming out of the locker room. Leonard was cleared to return and had an instant impact on his team. Jeremiyah Love carried the ball three times for 24 yards to begin the drive to move the offense near midfield. Leonard connected with Aneyas Williams on a double move down the sideline for a gain of 36 yards to the Penn State 19-yard line. Williams took the handoff 15 yards to the four and Leonard capped off the possession two plays later for a three-yard touchdown. The game was tied at the 10:46 mark of the third quarter.
Four drives later, the Irish took the lead. Dani Dennis-Sutton recorded a sack on first down but Leonard stood tall in the pocket on 3rd & 9 and delivered a pass to Jaden Greathouse for 17 yards and a first down. Jayden Thomas rushed for 18 yards to the Penn State 16-yard line then Kobe King was flagged for pass interference to set up 1st & GOAL from the two-yard line. Love took advantage of the penalty and scored on the next play to put Notre Dame up by seven less than a minute into the fourth quarter.
The Nittany Lions responded in a big way on the next couple of possessions. Warren made a 27-yard catch to move their offense beyond the 50, then, Khalil Dinkins took an underneath route another 20 yards to the 18-yard line. Singleton capped off the drive by reaching paydirt again, this time from seven yards out to tie the game at 17.
Leonard made an ill-advised throw and was intercepted by Dennis-Sutton who dropped back into coverage instead of rushing the passer. Notre Dame almost got the ball back when Jack Kiser came down with the pick in the end zone on an underthrown ball by Allar. The big play was nullified by a pass interference call on Adon Shuler that set up 1st & GOAL from the nine. Singleton completed the hat trick by scoring again from the seven-yard line to put the Nittany Lions up 24-17 with 7:55 to go in the game.
Notre Dame wouldn’t go away and tied the game again. Leonard found a wide-open Greathouse who cut to the inside and made a defender fall on the way to a 54-yard touchdown.
Penn State got the ball back with less than a minute to go and Allar made a huge mistake, throwing an interception back toward the middle of the field. Gray made the play and set up Notre Dame’s offense beyond midfield at the 42-yard line.
Leonard found Greathouse for another first down on 3rd & 3. Jeter lined up for his second 41-yard field goal of the game and converted again, putting the Fighting Irish up with seven seconds left. The Nittany Lions couldn’t score on a desperate final drive and the Fighting Irish advanced to the National Championship with the 27-24 win.
BIG NUMBER: 54
Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard completed his longest pass of the season on Thursday. Jaden Greathouse was the recipient of the play and scored on the 54-yard catch. The previous long by Leonard this season was a 53-yard pass against Stanford on October 12th.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Riley Leonard
Despite missing the end of the second quarter and throwing two interceptions, Riley Leonard stepped up for his team in the second half. The senior quarterback threw for 223 yards, rushed for 35 yards, and scored two total touchdowns as Notre Dame came back to beat Penn State 27-24.
UP NEXT: In the other College Football Playoff Semifinal, the Ohio State Buckeyes will take on the Texas Longhorns in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic. Kickoff inside AT&T Stadium is set for 6:30 on Friday, January 10th. The action can be seen on ESPN.
